Why Rabbi Schneerson Was Good For Jews But Bad For Biographers
He was perhaps the most influential rabbi in modern history. Yet suprisingly little is known about the man who was Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson.
From Orthodox Teen Lesbians To the Holocaust, An Author Courts Controversy
Leanne Lieberman, who has written about Orthodox teen lesbians is no stranger to controversy. Her latest novel, ‘Lauren Yanofsky Hates the Holocaust’ is no exception.
Navigating Battlefield of Orthodox Marriage and Divorce
There are hundreds of American agunot, Orthodox women whose husbands refuse to grant them a Jewish divorce. A new book discusses the plight of these ‘chained’ women.
Of Susan Sontag, Debbie Harry, Anna Moffo and Wayne's World
What do Susan Sontag, Debbie Harry, James Schuyler and Anna Moffo have in common? For one thing, they’re all loved by author Wayne Koestenbaum.
Taking a Second Look at Lillian Hellman
Lillian Hellman was brilliant, courageous and, above all, interesting, a new book reveals. Hate her if you must, but don’t reduce her, writes Mark Oppenheimer.
If Anne Frank Lived Upstate
Shalom Auslander’s major theme in his new novel is the burden of the Jewish past. There is no symbol of that burden more powerful than Anne Frank.
Gimme Some Old Time Gossip
Kim Kardashian has no particular talent, yet she is one of the most recognized people on the planet. Joseph Epstein’s new book explains how gossip became so powerful.
Lee Siegel Fails To Get Serious Enough About Seriousness
Lee Siegel argues in his new book that American society is not as serious as it used be. But he spends more time provoking readers with cheap potshots than offering a clear narrative.
Scant Dishing From a Print Pooh-bah
Former New Yorker editor Robert Gottlieb’s new collection of book reviews is a pleasure to read, but should dish more dirt, Mark Oppenheimer writes.
And On The Seventh Day She Rested
‘The Sabbath World: Glimpses of a Different Order of Time,” Judith Shulevitz’s look at the Judeo-Christian practice of setting aside every seventh day for rest, is both an extended exercise in public history and a spiritual autobiography. Discourses about the roots of the Sabbatarian tradition; the various theologies, Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish, that recommend it; the representations of it in literature; and the sociological ideas that help explain it are interlaced with personal reflections detailing Shulevitz’s own slow, reluctant history of celebrating the day of rest.